A decade after the “huge starting point” Pop Idol gave Will Young, the singer, whose fifth studio album Echoes recently topped the charts, is still grateful for his first appearance on the show.
In an interview with Daybreak's Christine Bleakley and Dan Lobb, he said: "When I won Pop Idol ten years ago, I was very aware of [how] it's like a game of snakes and ladders. I went up a huge ladder, but maybe I didn't have credibility.
"I was like the new boy, I had to stick around. I think those shows - if you can stick around, they give you a massive opportunity, and it's what you make of it."
Young added: "You go in at the top in terms of you're very famous, but like my friend always says to me, 'You don't demand respect, you earn it', you know?
"So it's a huge starting point and it was just the best ever experience for me, ever - you know, wow, I got a record deal! And then the hard work sort of begins again - it's very strange."
He said: "People voted for me on a show, so I was damned if I was gonna give it up, you know...I'm basically stubborn is what I'm saying!"
In a separate interview with Digital Spy, he also spoke about his acting plans: "At the end of next year I've got a couple of things. I really want to do a musical, and I badly want to be in Downton Abbey!
"I've also been working on this spoken word project to do with music; it sounds really pretentious but it's great."
